You Cant Fix Me
by 18 years of Blue
Summary: Madison hasn't had the beautiful, fairy tale childhood that you see in the movies. In fact she has the type of life that nobody talks about because of all the emotional turmoil that people aren't comfortable discussing. Fortunately fate cuts her a break and sends her packing to little ole La Push where she meets a not so gentle giant that simply cant be good for her. PaulOC Imprint
1. Chapter 1

**This is about Madison, who hasn't had the best examples of what love and relationships are supposed to be like. There are hints of child molestation and rape in a few chapters, but nothing that goes into detail. She moves to La Push and meets Paul, who isn't exactly the gentle giant that everyone thinks Madison needs. In this story we'll see how Paul and Madison work through their childhood issues together to become better people for themselves and each other. **

**This is a sort chapter just so we can see what kind of environment Madison grew up in. **

* * *

I try not to cry, but I can't help it. I curl myself up into a ball and let the tears flow freely. I stay like that for too long and I can feel my legs falling asleep, so I get up and stretch before I find my journal. I keep it in a oversized teddy bear that my dad won for me at a fair a few months before he died. My journal is huge and has enough pages to write something every day for three years, but I only write when something big happens or when I really feel like it. I've kept this journal for ten years because its the last thing my mom ever gave me, besides a few bumps and bruises, but I don't think those count. I laugh quietly in my head while a flip through the pages that are more beige than white, looking for a blank one.

_April 27, 2000_

_Daddy is dead mommy told me. She says he is in hevan now. I ask mommy were hevan is and she says she dont really no. I ask her how does she no daddy is in hevan if she doesnt know were hevan is. She laffed and says it is becus daddy was a good man and that good men always end up in hevan. She got me this diary as a present and told me to right down my feelins in it._

_July 3, 2000_

_Mommy started dating again. She brought a man named Robert home. He talked and walked kindda funny. Like I do when im real sleepy. I guess she tried to sneak him in because she was suprised to see me up watching cartoons. She told me I should be in bed because I wouldnt want to be tired for school. I guess she forgot that tomorrows Indipendance Day and that there is never school on July fourth._

_December 4, 2003_

_Robert came into my room last night. I could tell he was drunk because his breath smelled real bad and he was walking funny again. He said I was pretty and told me I shouldnt let my perfect body go to waste whatever that means. Robert slept in my room that night. He played with my hair and kissed my neck and shoulder. He said I was the prettyist girl there ever was._

_August 19, 2008_

_Bryson is good to me. He doesn't hit me when I say no because apparently he likes to keep his girl looking pretty. At least he wears a condom. He pays for my birth control pills and he buys me nice things. Bry is 33, thats younger than mom and way older than me. Mom is 38 and shes always high or drunk. She knows Bryson comes into my room every night, so she beats me for "taking" her man. As if I asked him to hold me down and force himself on me while he pats my head like i'm his good little fuck doll. Bry beats mom when she beats me and then she beats me again when he beats her. Then he beats her again until its not fun for him anymore. Its all an endless cycle of abuse around here and its getting old._

_August 23, 2008_

_Bryson told me he loved me for the first time and it would have been kind of sweet if it wasn't right after he hit me for the first time. I dont know if I trust him anymore. Should I have lied and told him I loved him back? Maybe I should love him back_.

I shake my head at the tomfoolery that is my life and silently wish for my dad. Lissa was a good person before he died and I can't imagine the type of life that I would have if he never left us. I find a blank page and start to write.

_May 17, 2010_

_I didnt go to school today, but thats not really anything new I guess. There is no way I could hide all of the bruises from Mike and Lissa's little game of kick the ginger that went down last night. Instead of being in the semi safe environment of my less than stellar high school, I was stuck in my room all day while Tweedledee and Tweedledum got high, drunk and sexy all over the two bedroom apartment. I didn't eat today and when I snuck out of my room to ask mom for money while Mike was in the bathroom she laughed in my face. I guess she was full off of drugs and cheap liquor. There is absolutely nothing to do in my room so I skimmed through my journal and added some stuff up. (I would even venture to say that this counts as Math, English, History and Sex Ed.. So, excluding lunch and Science, I've pretty much had a full day of school in about a half hour.) I've had the pleasure of knowing thirteen sex partners in a ten year time span, all of which were dating my lovely mother, I've been molested and raped to many times to count, i've had two different STD's (thankfully both treatable by a simple pill or shot). And to top off my ever growing list i've had one beautiful baby boy that I sold, legally much to Lissa's annoyance, for some much needed money. This shit has got to stop, pronto._

I shut my depressing little book and tuck it back into my bear before cuddling with him. "Jer Bear, we need to do something about this fucked up situation that we find ourselves in." I kiss his cheek and shut my eyes knowing that I would be safe from Mike tonight because of my locked door and distracting mother.


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: In the chapter after this one Madison makes the move. Read and Review please. Beta anyone?**

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"Get up," I hear Lissa say. I don't move, I just lay there thinking that she might cut me a break for once in my life. She doesn't. Instead she burns the tip of my left pinky with her cigarette until I realize that i'm in pain and roughly push her away.

"What the hell?" I scream and much to my annoyance she laughs. She thinks my pain is funny and I want to kick her two front teeth out that I know are rotting away from her constant drug use. In fact, all of her is rotting away, not just her once pretty smile. Her used to be tan skin is pale, but still kind of brown because half of her is Native American. In the past her hair was long and luscious, a light brown that flowed into naturally glossy waterfall curls. Now its stringy, still long but limp and lifeless. Her infamously shapely figure had given way to the unfamiliar drugs in her system almost instantly and she's now a tiny little stick woman with her bones poking at her skin, threatening to tear through the thin unhealthy organ and expose her rotting insides for the world to see. I don't remember when it happened, maybe it was a gradual, unnoticeable kind of thing, but my mother is now as ugly on the outside as she is on the inside.

"Get up." She repeats through her nerve wrecking laughter, "Get up and go to school. Your teacher called,_ again_. Go to school and make sure that bitch doesn't call anymore. She's lucky she didn't wake my man up. I cant believe she had the nerve to call so early in the morning…" She left my room still complaining and I drag myself out of bed. I glance at the clock and roll my eyes. Its 10:00 in the morning. I sneak off to the bathroom, hoping not to attract attention from the supposedly sleeping Mike, and throw myself into a much needed shower. The hot water feels good and pretty soon I get distracted by the mesmerising sight of my pale, bruised skin turning pink under the scalding hot water. I get out of the shower when the water runs cold and wrap a beach towel around my body.

I shuffle to the sink and brush my teeth. While staring into the foggy mirror I scrutinize my appearance. My red hair was long and reached the middle of my back. I smiled as I cataloged all of the things I inherited from my father and his family. Red hair, and unruly splatters of freckles across both my cheeks, big green eyes and pale skin. From my mother I received an attractive figure. She was taller than me, but I had the curves that she was once known for. From her Native American roots I was gifted with high cheek bones that most people found attractive and long, thick eyelashes. I also gained a plethora of bruises from the night before that covered my fair skin. Luckily I was a quick healer and the ugly marks were already turning into faded yellow blotches.

I snuck back to my room and threw on some kind-of-clean clothes and the oversized hoodie that once belonged to my dad. Slipping my cheap converse knockoffs onto my little feet I grabbed the Ipod that Mike bought me when he was still trying to impress my mom. After one quick glance at the full length mirror on my closet door to make sure most of the bruises were covered up I was out my bedroom door and almost out of the apartment.

"Madison, wait."

"Yeah Mike?" I respond while looking at the front door anxiously. I was so close to getting out without causing any problems.

He reached into his pocket and handed me a twenty dollar bill. "Get me as much alcohol as you can. Whatever's good. Bring me back my change and booze or dont come back, you hear me sugar tits?" He raises his slimy eyebrow at me and wiggles the other one suggestively. I swallow my disgust and nod before starting the short walk to school.

Half an hour later i'm there and slowly walking into my third class which is halfway over. The teacher looks at me disapprovingly and I roll my eyes at her. Stuck up bitch always had a stick up her rear end. I see my best friend in the back surrounded by boys, per usual, but she doesn't see me yet so I glare at some random until she moves out of her seat. I cop a squat and kick my feet up on an empty chair next to me and ignore the boring lecture that Mrs.B-something is giving. I have a staring contest with the clock until the bell rings twenty-five minutes later. I hightail it out of there before the teacher can even think about asking me to stay behind and wait outside of the door for Shay to be carried out by her group of flockies. When she eventually does leave the class she's naturally the last one out and almost walks by me. I say almost because I stick my foot out and she trips, landing on her hands and knees.

"Thats a good look for you. Maybe you should stay that way." Says some gross upperclassman and I pretend I was swatting at a fly when my hand accidentally connects with his face. By this time Shay has rolled over and is laying on her back overtaken by the giggles. She thinks my violent streaks are funny and her laughter always finds a way to make me even less pissed off. I wink at her and help her up.

"I could of died just now, did you know that? Did you know that I could of died and then you would have died because you know you can't live without me. " She's still laughing, but is leading me to our next class. Boring ass Art History, I swear they give all the freshmen classes that no one signed up for. I nod and pretend that I would be devastated if she had died by tripping, but really I'd probably die too. Death by laughter because that would be some funny shit. You know, minus the best friend dying part.

"Are you listening?" I turn to her and blink a few times. She rolls her eyes and I flash her my you-love-me-tons smile. "I said that I missed you. You haven't been to school in a week. Where ya been?"

I shrug and ask her about herself which is always a safe topic when one is trying to distract a Shay. While she drones on about all of the senior boys that wanted in her pants I let myself drift off into la la land. I remember when Shay and I first met. Early in the school year she was cornered by a bunch of snobby bitches that were jealous of the new latina girl with pretty features and exotic accent. All the boys wanted her, even if she was only a freshmen and it pissed girls off when the boy they've been pining for suddenly takes interest in a new, prettier, younger girl. I was in a violent mood that day and was just waiting for a reason to blow up at someone. I stumbled across the little bitch parade and Shay called out for help. Im one for diplomacy and all that crap so I told the girls to fuck off before I beat the snot out of them. They thought that I was so fucking funny because really, what was a little freshy like me going to do against five upperclassmen, unfortunately they didn't know that I had been fighting grown men since I was six. And on top of that they didn't know that I abso-fucking-lutely hated being laughed at. Needless to say I was suspended for four days. When I came back Shay attached herself to my hip and we've been friends ever since.

After Art History we skipped off to lunch that consisted of me storing the nonperishable items from lunch into my bag for dinner and me scarfing down both of our lunches. Shay flirted with the boys that always flocked her and pretending that she didn't notice me eyeing the guy's lunches while I stole their apples and oranges. After lunch we quietly walked to gym and changed into the uniforms that the school provided. We opted out of volleyball and decided to walk around the outdoor track instead. Even though I hid the top part of my body with the big hoodie I really couldn't do anything about my legs in the short shorts that girls were required to wear in the hot seasons. As we walked Shay eyed my legs, but didn't say anything about the bruises.

"You wanna come spend the night at my house tomorrow? I'd invite you over tonight, but my dad leaves for his stupid business trip tonight and you know how he gets when I have company…" Shay lived at home with her dad because her mom was God knows where. Honestly Shay is a total slut. I think she has a serious mental problem. She'll fuck anything with a hard on, including her dad. In fact I think she _prefers_ her dad, which I just don't understand, but she's my only friend so I don't judge and quite frankly I don't care who she screws. As long as she doesn't bother me about my shit, I don't bother her about hers. But every now and then she throws me a bone by asking me to stay over and she has her cook prepare a fuck load of food because she knows i'm always hungry, but her dad is super freaking paranoid. He won't touch her if she has someone over and, like I said, Shay has a problem. She needs the sex or she goes bat shit crazy.

I nod my head. "You think Drake could lug me around to a few places before he drops you off?" Drake is the driver. Shay gets one until she can drive next year, which I doubt she'll do. With a loaded daddy she can have a driver until she dies and she likes texting too much to stop so she can watch a silly little road.

"Yeah no problem. Gym's almost over. Race you to the building!" The little cheat breaks off into a run and I shake my head while I run behind her. The girls an natural born sprinter so I lose by a disgraceful distance and shes laughing at me when I finally reach the door out of breath and having a heart attack.

You're out of shapedness makes me sad." She said while holding her sides. The only reason she's out of breath is from the rude and excessive laughing. I shoot her a glare and stomp into to the gym ignoring her childishly while I changed my clothes. I wait for her begrudgingly and then I walk her to her next class before retreating to my favorite class, Advanced Placement Chemistry. I was the only freshmen in the class because it was typically reserved for overachieving seniors. It goes without saying that when i'm missing everyone in the class knows because there are a total of eleven of us and i'm the only fifteen year old. The teacher hasn't arrived yet and I settle down in my seat towards the back of the class. This was the reason I was here, other than lunch. She was the teacher that wouldn't stop calling. It was cute that she cared.

Ms. Lomer walked into the class all colorful and distracting. The woman was a modern day hippie decorated in hearts and peace signs with her hair done up in chopsticks. I haven't the slightest clue how she got into teaching a science class like Chemistry. I could see her as an art teacher, but nope she was crazy about chemistry.

"Welcome all to the lovely world of chemistry. I hope you left all preconceived connotations about science and the world at the door." Each day she started the class with the same greeting, as if every day was the first day of school. "Today we go on an adventure with our trusty guide, Fire. Get your goggles out, for on this day, we play with fire and put flames to the test!" She sat at her desk and slipped on her glasses.

"But first, we have to get through the pesky task of attendance." She clicked a few things on the old computer and started to call roll. When she got to my name she easily breezed past it and almost missed me when I let out a shy "Here."

Here head shot up and she gave me a pleased smile, but then continued with class as if me being here wasn't abnormal. When it was all over I stayed behind and approached her desk timidly. "Hi Ms. Lomer. My mom wanted me to talk to you about-"

"Do you know that you are absolutely too far behind the other students. If you stay after school or come here during your lunch period I could positively catch you up in a matter of days. You're definitely one of the smartest students i've ever taught and if we just work-"

"Ms. Lomer I need-"

"Oh it'll be marvelous, we can go as fast as a ultraviolet wavelength. How splendid I can even use you as an example for other students. How does that sound Madison?"

"It sounds spectacular Ms. Lomer, but you can't call my house anymore it really disturbs my sickly mother to be woken up out of her much needed rest, so we'd really appreciate it if you would refrain from making house calls from this moment forward." I lied as smoothly and professionally as I could. She nodded her head and looked at me with sad eyes. I moved to leave the class, but she stopped me by placing her hand on top of mine.

"You can tell me anything you know that, right? Whatever you want Madison, i'm here for you." I smile and nod before exiting the classroom. "See you tomorrow!"

I rush to meet Shay outside of the school and spot the sleek, black, stretch Hummer. I jog to the car and as I approach the heavy door is opened from the inside and almost hits a sophomore girl with unnatural pink and yellow hair. I giggle when she drops her phone and has a mini heart attack trying to catch it. I slip into the car after an embarrassing amount of tries of getting into the ridiculously tall monstrosity. Shay is laughing after I finish huffing and puffing from the unwanted physical exercise so I flip her the bird. I crawl to the window separating the back and drivers seat and slid it open to talk to Drake. I give him the location and he drives us there with a disapproving glance thrown my way. I stuck my tongue out at him and he dared to crack a smile. Drake thought I was a bad influence, but liked me well enough.

I hopped out of the car and ran to the side of the liquor store to find some poor drunk with no fix. "Buy me a couple of bottles with this and I'll give you five bucks." I tell the woman. She nods and returns with the booze. I give her the money promised and head back to the car. Shay gives me that look that I hate and tells Drake to take me home. By the time we get there Shay is rocking something fierce and bouncing up and down all over the place.

"I gotta pee or i'm gonna freakin kill my bladder." I look at her warily. And shake my head.

"Oh well." I say in response and make to leave the car. She grabs my arm and whines at me, almost whimpering. I roll my eyes. "You don't want to go up there Shay." She starts rocking harder all melodramatic like and I roll my eyes again, but this time in exasperated defeat. She smiles and shoots up the stairs past the drug boys and dope fiends.

"24C right?" She yells. I chase after her and yell at her to just slow the fuck down. She reaches the apartment and I hear sounds coming from within. There are people here and it fucking sucks that Shay has already started knocking on the door because she knows I don't have a key. The door swings open and Jay is here which just turned my good day to shit because Jay fucking sucks some major ass. He's the guy that deals to Lissa and has made more than one pass at me. Shay gives him a nervous smile, but not before checking him out. Its a natural reaction and she can't help it, however Jay doesn't know that and he takes that as a sign of her being interested. I push her towards the bathroom and go in there with her. I lock the door while she does her business, but before she's done Jay and Mike are knocking on the bathroom door telling us to come out and play.

Shay's eyes are wide with surprise and worry. I can tell she doesn't want to go back out and I don't blame her. Jay is a fucking creep and Mike'll fuck anything moving. After a while Jay is tired of playing, but Mike isn't so he sticks by the door. Talking about how good the two of us would look together or feel around his junk. Lissa is actually getting a little turned on, but she can tell that i'm not. I usher her out of the bathroom window down one of the fire escapes. She looks up at me worried and I tell her i'll see her in school tomorrow, hoping that she wouldn't think too much on it. I thank God everyday that Shay is a nosy mother fucker that can't mind her business.


	3. Chapter 3

It's funny how quickly things can go from zero to sixty in a split second. Not long after Shay left Mike had managed to bust the bathroom door down and was chasing me around the apartment much to his shifty friends' amusement. Jay tripped me and I stumbled which gave Mike enough time to catch up to me. He grabbed me by my traitorous hair and I fell backwards and into his arms. If I had learned anything about Mike it was that he liked it when you fought him, he thought that the struggle was what made it fun, so to spite him I went completely still. I was stiff as a boar and Mike must have been in a good mood because he thought that it was funny. He hit the back of my knees with his foot so I fell over and started dragging me towards my bedroom. Before we could get there the front door was knocked down and a few police officers rushed in. After the cops came in the entire room went bat shit crazy.

Jay tried to make a break for the fire escape because he probably had the most to lose being a notorious dealer with a lot of illegal drugs and weapons on him. Mike, who was still towering above me, was kind of frozen. I bet we were a funny sight, him with wide eyes and me holding my head, trying to relieve myself from the pain of having my weight supported by my hair. All the while a swarm of drug dealers and abusers ran around the apartment in an attempt to get away from the cops. I would have laughed if my mom wasn't passed out on the couch with what was probably a dirty needle still inserted in her very prominent vein. I was pretty sure she was going to get into some trouble for that one.

After a while everybody but Lissa and I were in handcuffs. She was on her way to the hospital and I was sitting inside a detective's car on my way to the police station. When we got there I was told write a statement about what happened tonight and then was instructed to make one about any incidents that were similar to this one that may have happened before. After I finished my statement, which admittedly wasn't very informative, a solemn looking women came into the room I was waiting in. She handed me a doll and asked me where I've been touched by Mike, Lissa or any other boyfriends Lissa may have had. I told her I was too old for that doll and explained to her with unnecessarily vivid details what I experienced living with Lissa. I knew I wasn't making the situation better for myself, but I got comfort from seeing her squirm. I could tell she was uncomfortable with how comfortable I was discussing the sensitive subject of how I had been violated, but I had come to terms with it along time ago and if she wanted to talk about it then I wasn't going to spare any details. I'm a thorough person and my twisted sense of humor wasn't getting me any brownie points with the uptight woman. I was probably going to be institutionalized based on the amount of times I laughed when her face contorted itself into one of disgust.

A few hours after the woman left a man entered. I started to believe that they had forgotten I was here and seriously considered sneaking out and bumming a ride to Shay' man sat down introduced himself and asked me about family. I told I didn't have any that I knew of and I could just go with Shay if they needed somewhere to dump me.

"That will not do. According to your mother's medical records she has a living relative, her mother to be more exact, that is listed as her emergency contact. We called her and explained the… situation. We made it perfectly clear that you also had the option of living in a group home if either of you chose that option. She expressed to Child Protective Services that she would be delighted to have you. Would you prefer to stay with her?"

I raised my eyebrow questioningly at him. "I don't know her. Are you sure I can't stay with my friend? Her dad is loaded and he likes me well enough. They won't mind."

"There's an entire process that is separate and more time consuming if you want a non-related person to have custody of you. First you'd have to take up residence in a group home or we'd have to find a foster family. And of course we would have to do a thorough investigation to make sure he is a fit guardian and if there is anything illegal or immoral-"

"You talk way too much." I interrupted. I decided that a thorough investigation at Shay's probably wouldn't have the desired effect."How old is this woman? Where does she live? Why would she take in a teen that she's never met before? What's wrong with her? You're asking me to make a big decision without giving me any real information."

"Her name is Qhala Day and she's 53. She lives in La Push which is a small Native American reservation in Washington State. According to her its a wonderful community where everybody knows everybody. I don't think there is anything wrong with her as you so eloquently put it, but she is an older woman living alone. She might be lonely and she is your grandmother."

"What would happen if I decided that I didn't like it there?" I asked.

"Well i'm not sure how La Push deals with social work because reservations have their own forms of government, but i'm sure there is a policy regarding issues of the sort. It would be out of the state of Illinois' hands."

"What about Mike and Lissa? Could they come find me when they get out?"

"No. Lissa has lost custody of you and she and Mike will be given a no contact order. Meaning they may not contact you in any form, shape or way. Now in Chicago it might be difficult to never see them because they do live here. If you leave you may be asked to come back for a while to testify against them in court-".

"Wait, what?" I interrupted. "You mean they aren't in jail?"

"They are in jail now and have been charged with numerous counts, but they haven't been found guilty of anything yet. It would take a judge or jury to decide rather or not they are innocent of the crimes-".

"I'll go. And i'll come back and talk if you need me too, but I want to go to Washington with that lady ok. Start getting that shit together. Where am I going to stay before i'm shipped out?"

The guy looked at me in that exasperating way that clearly is a nonverbal way of saying cursing is "unlady" like. "You need to go pack up your things. You'll be staying at a hospital tonight for examinations and we'll have you on a plane tomorrow."

"Tomorrow seems kind of quick, but I can be cool with that. Lets go."

* * *

The other passengers on the plane kept giving me dirty looks because I kept moving around in my seat. I'll admit I made a little noise in doing so, but it wasn't like I was directing a marching band. Besides I deserved the right to adjust myself in a comfortable position considering the night I had at the hospital of cold, metal horrors and intruding doctor hands. Staying at the hospital really sucked with all the poking and prodding they did to my lady parts. I got to call Shay though and she threw a fit when she found out I was moving. But she was happy that I was getting out of what she called "fucked up castle" even if we didn't get to see each other everyday anymore. We promised to stay in touch and all of that sappy crap girls do when they lose their best friend. I swear, Shay was acting like I had died or something.

After a three hour flight, I found myself in Port Angeles waiting for my grandmother's friend's grandson to pick me up because she didn't drive. He was late and I was agitated and not looking forward to an hour and a half long drive with the tardy little brat. I didn't even know what the guy looked like, so its needless to say that I was a little defensive when a six foot seven man walked up to me in the middle of the airport.

"Are you Qhala's granddaughter, Megan?" He asked me in a deep, baritone voice. He had the nerve to hold out his hand like we were meeting on friendly terms.

"My name is Madison, and you're an hour late." I said in a snappy tone, grabbing my two bags and walked past him in the direction that I noticed him walking towards me in. I was halfway through the small and deserted airport before I heard him laughing and calling for me to slow down. I decided to walk faster, but stopped when I got out the front doors and into the parking lot.

"Hey let me take your bags honey. I'm sorry I was late, my best friend kind of needed me, she's going through some stuff right now." He gave his excuse with a boyish and bashful look on his face while he awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck with one hand. "I'm Jacob by the way. It's nice to meet you Madison." This time instead of offering me his hand he shot me a grin that kind of lit up the gloomy sky.

"I forgive you even if you're excuse is lacking. Which one is your car?" He pointed to a little cute little red Volkswagon. I let him take my bags and he opened the door for me to get inside the passenger seat. This Jacob character was really chivalrous which meant he probably wanted something from me or Qhala. After putting my bags in the trunk he slid into the driver's seat, which I honestly thought was going to be too small for him, and started driving us through the light drizzle to La Push.

During the ride I asked Jacob talked about La Push and himself and I found out that contrary to his physical appearance, he was only seventeen. I didn't do much talking, but I did try to listen. Its just that he talked so much that I couldn't help but fall asleep an hour before we got there. I woke up when we stopped for gas and Jacob talked some more. He was nice and all, but really starting to get on my nerves. I didn't want to blow up at him and hurt his feelings, but my temper wasn't something that I could really control. Fortunately he turned the radio on and we listened to music until we saw the "Welcome to La Push" sign.

I sat up in my seat and looked around. La Push was small and homey looking. It was raining, but people were still out and a lot of them waved to Jacob and gave me curious looks as we drove by. Pretty soon we pulled up into the driveway of a cute little brown house with white shutters. Jacob stopped the car and flashed his bright smile towards me.

"You ready Madison? I bet Qhala has cooked up a storm waiting for you. Call me over if there are any leftovers, my numbers on the fridge." With those strange parting words he got out of the car and jogged down the street past four or five houses before he ran up to one. "This is my house. Holler when you're done taking your bags in and i'll come get the car!" He yelled down the street before going into his house.

I rolled my eyes and got out of the car, grabbing the keys and my bags out of the trunk. I lugged my stuff up to the front porch and just stood there for a while. I got my shit together and knocked on the door, reminding myself to be nice. After a while the door flew open and a short, tan women was wrapped around me in a hug.

"Little girl, little girl. Come in, you must be starving and tired." The women stepped back after a minute or so of hugging me. "Where are my manners? I'm Qhala Day and its so wonderful to finally meet my only granddaughter."


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Please Read and Review. Constructive criticism or nice words are my bread and butter. Thank you for reading even if you don't review, you're appreciated. And a Beta is desperately needed. Also I would like to thank those who favorited and followed, that means so much to me. Anyway on with the show.- Bre**

Jacob wasn't wrong when he assumed that Qhala would cook up a storm. I didn't eat much because my stomach wasn't use to such big meals, but what I could eat was freaking delicious. The women could cook and for that I was grateful. While we ate Qhala asked me basic questions about myself.

Did I play any sports? No, I didn't. Did I leave many friends behind? Just one. Did I like school at all? Only my science and math classes. Did I get good grades? I didn't really get a chance to attend much school, so my grades were lacking. Was I excited to meet the Quileute community? I don't really like new people. Getting to know them and vice versa is always an awkward hassle that I rather avoid. Were there any questions that I would like to ask her? Was there any place that I could put my stuff up?

That lead to the tour of the two bedroom house. I had seen the kitchen and living room upon entering the house so she showed me to the bathroom. It was bigger than the one in Chicago and was a lot cleaner too. Qhala showed me where her room was and the room my mom grew up in, but would now be mine. She told me that I could arrange it any way that I wanted and even paint it if I wanted to. The walls were a soft grey that I didn't expect from Lissa because her favorite color had always been hot pink. I thought the room was just fine and told Qhala that before she left me to put my things up in the empty drawers and closet. It didn't take long because the two bags I had were small.

When I finished my unpacking I returned to the kitchen to find Jacob scarfing down the leftovers. I went to wash the dishes in the sink, but Qhala came out of nowhere and slapped my hands away.

"No need to do that sweetie, I got it." She said.

"I can help, I did all of the cleaning in Chicago so I know what i'm doing," I said with a frown. "Besides I'd feel bad knowing you cooked all this food and had to clean it all up by yourself too."

Jacob laughed and talked around a mouthful of food. "Barking up the wrong tree there Madison. I've been trying to help her with cleaning since she started feeding me." He swallowed the food and gulped half a glass of lemonade. "Lady won't let you put your own dish in the sink if she can get to it fast enough."

I frown again and nod reluctantly. If there was one thing I hated, it was having things done for me. "How about an agreement of compromise Qhala? You can cook and I can clean up after

us. And i'll clean up any mess I make. That way I won't burden you and I won't feel bad about you pampering me."

"That sounds reasonable, but really I don't mind. If it'll make you more comfortable, i'll let you do the cleaning after meals, but not today. Why don't you go out or take a nap? You must be tired or restless from the plane ride. It's Saturday, so maybe we can go to Port Angeles and buy you some things for school tomorrow."

"Oh, can I go?" Asked Jacob. "I really need to buy Emily a good present for her birthday if I want Sam to be nice to me for at least a week. A happy Emily equals a happy Sam."

"I really don't want you spending money on me or anything." I was starting to get frustrated.

"Really don't worry about it and of course you can go Jacob," He did a fist pump and almost hit the ceiling. "You can carry the bags." His facial expression went from happy to bummed in a matter of milliseconds, causing me to laugh uncontrollably. Other peoples pain is freaking funny to me.

"I'm going to bed before I get bullied into anything else." I announced. Jake left with promises to be here bright and early and Qhala wished me a good nights sleep. I retired to my new room and locked the door behind me out of habit.

I pulled Jer Bear out of the duffle bag that he filled up by himself and snuggled with him on the bed. I pulled my journal out and wrote about the past couple of days and that took up an entire page, front and back. After I was done, I returned the thick book back to its hiding place inside of Jer Bear and fell asleep.

* * *

Qhala bought me an alarm clock and I truly hate the person who invented the obnoxious contraption because no one should wake up to the sound of its insistent beeping at 7:30 in the morning on a Monday. Qhala must have heard me throw the stupid device at the wall because she knocked on my door a few minutes later and asked me if I was alright. I nodded knowing she couldn't see me and dragged myself out of bed.

I shuffled to the bathroom with my eyes half closed and brain half asleep. I took a quick shower and decided that because it was my first day I ought to at least brush my hair or something. So I blow dried it until my curls were nonexistent and I could actually manage to run my fingers through the big, red mess. Then I finished up my routine and headed back to my room.

In Chicago most of my wardrobe had consisted of long sleeves and clothes that covered up my bruises, so when I went shopping with Qhala and Jake I didn't think to buy much of anything else. Today I was dressed in a black, form fitting, long sleeved tee and black jeans. I threw on the red combat boots that I picked out yesterday. I could tell that Qhala would have preferred if I chose more colorful items, but I really appreciated that she bought what I liked. After grabbing my book bag I walked into the kitchen and threw two apples into my bag and another one to eat on my way to school. I shouted a bye to Qhala and made my way to La Push High.

The walk was shorter than the one I took in Chicago to get to school. The directions Jacob gave me were easy to follow and the trip was about half the time that I expected it to be which meant I had more time to wander the halls and be stared at. When I got to the school I had finished my apple so I tossed it into the nearest trashcan as I made my way to the office. There I picked up my schedule and was assigned a locker. I headed to my locker which was in a seemingly deserted part of the small school. I had memorized the simple combination on my way to the locker, but had a little trouble getting it to open. After a few tries I got frustrated and started kicking the locker violently. I heard laughter behind me and a girl came over to helped me.

"You most definitely are new so I'll help you out because I like your boots." The girl had shoulder length hair that was raven black with streaks of electric blue. The color complimented her caramel skin nicely. She hit the top left corner of the locker twice and kicked the bottom right corner once before jiggling the handle and opening it. She turned to me with a pretty and triumphant smile. I noticed her nose was pierced and she wore a lot of jewelry. "Let me see your schedule."

I handed her the piece of paper and her face lit up again. "Awesomeness we have the same first period and the same lunch. I'll show you were our first class is and if you don't conform by lunch, we can sit together." She linked our arms together and led me to our Government class which I had no intention of participating in. "I'm Eliza by the way, but you can call my Ellie. I sit next to someone in this class, so we can't sit together." She showed me the available seats and I choose one at random.

Not long after we sat down people started filing into the room, but no one sat next to me. They all gave me curious looks, but didn't really try to talk to me. The teacher came in just before the bell and droned on about politics for a little while. 10 minutes past the late bell a huge and muscular guy walked into the classroom, handed the teacher a sheet of paper, and plopped down next to me in the seat, causing my notebook and pen to fall off of the table. I bit my lip and balled my fist up to prevent myself from lashing out at him because it was an accident and he clearly didn't realize what he did.

"Excuse me. You pushed my stuff off of my desk, would you pick it up for me please." See I can be classy. He looked up at me in surprise as if he didn't know I was there.

"Shit, i'm sorry gorgeous." He picked my stuff up and put it back on my desk. "Who are you? I'm Brady."

I rolled my eyes, but continued looking at the board. Through my peripheral vision I noticed him staring at my face. "Madison. You should be more careful next time, Brady, I could of lost my temper."

He laughed so hard that I had to look at him. He stared into my eyes for a minute before shaking his head. "Damn you would've been real fun." He clicked his tongue and the laid his head on the desk to sleep the rest of the period. I had to keep pinching his side because he snored and that distracted me from pretending like I was listening.

The rest of my morning classes went by smoothly and I thought I'd have a trouble free day until lunch happened and then shit went all downhill.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Read and Review**

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Chemistry was fun. The teacher wasn't as animated as Mrs. Lumer, but the work was more extensive and Mr. Jameson had more of an individual work-study atmosphere going on that resembled a college course. It was like "Here's what you need to do and i'll provide a lecture on the key topics tomorrow." Needless to say, I was excited when I was told to start forming ideas for a midterm project. That class was over too fast.

The rest of my classes were fine. English was terrible as usual. I was the only freshmen in Calculus which wasn't as advanced as my old math class back in Chicago. In my English class I met a really sweet, although shy and at times awkward, girl named Stephanie who thought that my munching on an apple in the middle of class was hilarious. I asked her who she sat with at lunch and she told me she usually sat alone. Then I asked her if she knew Ellie. She didn't, so I figured Ellie wouldn't have a problem with Stephanie sitting with us and if she did she could find herself a new friend. I didn't do selectism.

When lunch came Stephanie and I walked to the lunchroom together and we found Ellie in the lunch line. She was fine with Stephanie and let us cut in front of here despite the complaints from the kids behind us. After grabbing our trays we made our way to Stephanie's usual lunch table which was in the far right corner of the room. She said that people hardly ever occupied the tables in that area and that's why she usually did her reading or studying there. Ellie called Stephanie a bookworm and sat at the head of the table. We sat there bickering and eating like old friends for not even five minutes when this giant stormed over to our table.

"Ladies I hate to interrupt whatever it is you got going on over here at the island of misfit toys, but I need you to move from my table. Like now." Sneered the giant. Ellie rolled her eyes and ignored him, but Stephanie looked really uncomfortable. We weren't close enough to be friends yet, but I liked her and didn't take to kindly to bullies. I guess the ass could smell the fear on her because he honed in on her and would not take his eyes off of her. She blushed and fidgeted nervously before she started packing her stuff up to move. I stared at her with a look of astonishment before I put my hand on top of hers to still her movements.

"Stephanie, don't you usually sit at this table?" I asked. She nodded in response. "Do you like this table?" She shrugged.

"None of those things matter little red, I want this table. So it's mine. I won't ask you to move again." He barked at me.

"Let's just move." Stephanie whispered.

I ignored the ass and asked Stephanie another question. "Do you want to move?" She shook her head no and that was reason enough for me to get rid of the guy.

I strained my neck to look up at him from my sitting position. "No thank you." I said.

"Excuse me?" He asked in surprise.

"We don't really feel like moving, so yeah. Go away."

"It's Madison right? Listen up little girl, I don't take to kindly to being told no and usually the people with the balls to deny me don't live to tell the tale. But I'll let you leave peacefully, that's how nice of a guy I am. Now fucking move Maddy."

I jumped out of my seat and stood in front of him closely. "What the fuck did you just call me?"

He laughed. "Oh, you don't like being called Maddy? To fucking bad. Now you and your friends need to move before I really get pissed off."

I swung at him, but he was a fast mother fucker and he caught my hand. He grabbed me by the chin and pulled my face close to his. His eyes were closed and he was shaking slightly. "I wouldn't suggest you trying to do that again Maddy. You could have really put me in a bad mood and that wouldn't be a pretty sight."

"Fuck you." I kneed him in the balls and his eyes flew open. He still had my face in his hand so when he fell over I fell with him and it was fucking weird.

I swear we fell in slow motion, but not in the romantic way. He stared into my eyes the entire way down and I'm sure his hold on my chin went from forceful to gentle the moment his eyes opened. By the time we hit bottom he was caressing my face in a way that totally creeped me out. And he was fast. Instead of falling on my side like I should have, I landed on top of him and was cradled against his chest. Our eyes never broke the awkward stare so I saw the thousands of unidentifiable emotions that crossed his face. Finally he settled on anger, no not anger. It was rage. He pushed me off of him and I landed hard on the floor next to him. He was shaking violently and was up off of the floor faster than I could roll over.

"This fucking can't be it," He shook harder. "I'm not ready." He was having a seizure or a panic attack or something. He looked like he was in pain and not ten seconds after he said that Brady was at the table looking between me on the floor and the giant hovering over me.

"Bro, I don't know what happened between you and sexy over there, but you need to get out of here Paul." Said Brady. Paul, which I assume is the giants name, literally growled at Brady before running out of the cafeteria. Brady helped me up and then followed after Paul.

I looked around and saw that nobody else in the lunchroom noticed our altercation so I sat down at my table. "What the fuck just happened?"

Ellie laughed loudly. "You just had a run in with Paul Lahote, the rez's resident asshole. Don't worry you only wasted three minutes of your life talking to him. The knee to the groin was a nice touch."

"Three minutes?" I asked in shock. I felt like I was talking to him for at least twenty minutes.

"Yeah," Said Stephanie. "Remind me not to call you Maddy."

* * *

"Hey Firetop!" Jacob yelled from across the room before quickly making his way over to me. I had one class with him, which was more than I was expecting because he was two years ahead of me in school. I rolled my eyes at his originality and gave him a shy wave. Jacob was the first guy that I met who I was attracted to and I honestly didn't know what to do with that.

The coach announced that because we had an even number of people in the class (thanks to yours truly) we needed to split up into teams of two. Gym was my favorite elective back in Chicago because it was a great way to get rid of my pent up frustration in a physical way so I was looking forward to friendly competition. Jacob was waved over by another tall guy and went to the other side of the gym. It wasn't long before a different guy was at my side asking to be my partner. I accepted his invitation and promised to meet him by the bleachers before I went to go change into the clothes Coach provided me with.

When I was all dressed up in my La Push High gym uniform I went back onto the court and sat down to wait for Tyler, my gym partner. Jacob made his way over, but stopped a few feet away.

"What happened?" He asked, sounding sad and angry at the same time. I tilted my head in confusion before I realized that his eyes were roaming my body in a nonsexual way. I looked down and noticed all of the bruises that had not left my skin yet. My eyes widened in surprise which confused Jacob. I had forgotten about all the negative parts of Chicago that I left behind.

"Nothing, I'm a little clumsy is all. Don't worry about it." The lie was easy to tell because it was one I told often. "Haven't you heard the rumors? We gingers tend to bruise easy."

Jacob could tell that I was lying, but didn't push for the truth. This guy was getting better and better by the minute. He nodded his head and left when Coach called for us to "squad up". Tyler met me by the bleachers just in time for coach to tell us to pick another team to play against. Tyler noticed by bruises too, but unlike Jacob, he didn't say anything. He just gave me a shy smile and grabbed my hand to lead me to his friends.

We played Volleyball and we made a pretty good team. Shit was sweet other than the weird looks I kept getting from Jacob across the gym. Tyler and I won our match with little to no casualties (I may have spiked the ball too hard one time and ended up hitting his friend in the head) and to celebrate he offered to give me a ride home.

I changed quickly after gym, which was my last class of the day and Tyler walked me to my locker and then his car. He held my books and opened the door for me, which made me a bit suspicious about his intentions. But he stayed true to his word and dropped me off in front of Qhala's house with no problems. Other than that jerk Paul, I could say that I had a great first day.

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**A/N: The last part of the chapter may seem insignificant, but keep an eye on Tyler. He plays a major roll in the story.**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Thank you fari30 for reviewing and everyone else for the favorites and follows. Remember you guys to read and review. I know this chapter is up quick, but its spring break at my high school and it still feels like winter, so I didn't have anything better to do at 12 am on a Tuesday morning. **

The rest of the week was strange. Every day I would meet a new giant. Jacob introduced most of them to me, but they all said they were friends of Paul and they apologized for his undesirable behavior. Surprisingly I didn't see Paul, but I counted that as a blessing. I had gotten close with Stephanie and Ellie and we had made plans to crash a bonfire on Friday night.

When Friday came around Ellie came to Qhala's to pick me up and we headed to Stephanie's house. Stephanie lived on the beach so Ellie parked her car there and we walked the rest of the way. When we got to the beach it was late and the fire was easy to see. There were kids everywhere and I noticed a few of them who must have been from Forks because they didn't look Quileute. Stephanie and I were a little on the shy side when it came to meeting people, but Ellie wasn't so she dragged us around while she socialized with freshmen and upperclassmen alike. Eventually me and Stephanie managed to detach ourselves from Ellie and sat on the logs surrounding the fire. Farther down the beach I noticed a smaller group huddled around a cozier fire.

"Who's that?" I asked Stephanie gesturing towards the other side of the beach.

She followed my line of sight and answered quietly. "That's La Push's elite." I gave her a questioning look and she giggled at my confusion. "They're what La Push deems as 'blue bloods'. The group of boys Jacob Black had been introducing you to this week. They have the purest Quileute blood on the reservation. Most of the girls are just girlfriends though. Except for Leah Clearwater, but she graduated a while ago. The council gives them special treatment, but the council is full of a bunch of their parents anyway."

"That's… interesting. Is Jacob over there?" I asked trying to be discreet. Again Stephanie giggled and nodded at me. "Let's walk over there and talk to him- them. I mean let's talk to them." Stephanie full out laughed this time before texting Ellie who was currently sucking face with a guy from school. After she told Ellie where we were in case she needed us, we made our way to the other side of the beach.

The first person to notice us was Seth who I had met yesterday. He waved at us and made catcalls towards Stephanie before grabbing her by the waist and running off with her. I rolled my eyes and made my way towards Jacob who was unfortunately sitting with Paul.

"Hey Jacob," I said quietly, completely ignoring Paul. Jacob smiled his thousand watt smile at me and patted the empty seat between him and Paul.

"You can call me Jake if you want. People usually only call me Jacob when their particularly upset with me." He told me as I sat down "So what's up with you Fire Engine?"

I rolled my eyes again. "You know none of the names you call me are original?"

He laughed his deep, throaty laugh and rubbed the top of my head with his big hand, messing up my hair. "Yeah, but they are new to me. I've never known a redhead, so I'm enjoying trying out all my new nicknames. I like when you straighten your hair like that by the way. It's really pretty."

I tried not to, but it was impossible not to smile at his compliment. Next to me Paul scoffed. I stiffened and turned my attention towards him. He was sitting in the sand and using the log as a back rest instead of sitting on it like Jake and I. His long legs stretched out far and I noticed his feet were bare. From my position I could look at his face properly and I hated to admit that he was handsome, even more so than Jake. He wasn't as tall as Jacob, or as buff as Quil who I met Wednesday, but he was kind of perfect physically. His eyes were a dark and deep brown, his nose straight, jaw strong, eyelashes full, cheeks high, and lips plump. It was really too bad that his personality wasn't as admirable as his features.

"Do you have a problem?" I asked him harshly.

He snorted this time and looked up at me. "Yeah, I kind of do. If I wanted to see you moon over Jacob, I would have asked for it."

"I'm not _mooning _over anyone and even if I was, it's none of your concern."

"Like hell it's not!" He shouted. Again he started shaking slightly and I jumped up off of the log, he followed my movements.

"Don't yell at me asshole!" I poked him hard in the chest, which was bare by the way, to express my animosity. "It's not my fault you have a stick shoved so far up your ass that it's poking your brain." I balled my hands into fist waiting for him to get pissed enough to hit me. I had been in fights with grown men before, but none of them were as beefy as Paul.

"Why the fuck do you feel the need to piss me off so much? Aren't you supposed to help me control my anger?" He asked frustrated.

"I don't know what the fuck you're talking about psycho, but you better back the fuck up off of me before I blow my top." I warned him. He laughed like a maniac at that and if there was one thing I hated it was being laughed at.

He stepped closer so that our chests were touching. "What are you going to do _Maddy_? Huh, you gonna knee me again, because that was a cheap fucking shot."

This time he was more focused on my knee and expecting me to hit him with my right hand so he didn't see it coming when I slapped his cheek with my left hand. His face was hard and my hand hurt after, but the left side of his face was red so I felt accomplished. He snarled at me like a wild fucking animal before a man I hadn't met yet was standing behind Paul, telling him to back up. Unfamiliar arms grabbed me by the waist and pulled me away from Paul.

I kicked and screamed and lashed out before the person put me down a few yards away from where I was before. After I was put down I turned around, ready to rip my capture a new one, before I saw it was Brady.

"You ok hot stuff?" He asked with an amused look on his face.

"No. What the hell is his problem? I didn't even say anything to him at first and he still managed to piss me off." I shook my head in confusion. "The boy was put here to be my hell on earth I'm sure of it."

Brady laughed and wrapped his arm around my shoulders. "I'm pretty sure he feels the same way, but I wouldn't know. It's not like I'm in the guy's head or anything." He said with a smirk.

"You're a weirdo Brady." I told him. I looked around the beach and saw Ellie flirting with Seth while Seth flirted with Stephanie. In the other direction I saw Paul, Jake and two strangers talking. Jake was waving his arms around and Paul just stood there with his hands crossed against his chest. Suddenly Paul and one of the strangers walked towards me and Brady. Brady quickly removed his arm from around me when Paul stopped in front of us and glared at it.

"Brady, follow me," Commanded the stranger.

"Yes sir, Sam sir," Responded Brady with a mocking salute. Paul and I were left alone and I felt comfortable in the awkward silence, but I could tell he had something he wanted to say.

"Walk with me," He said. I noticed it wasn't a question, but I followed him down to the edge of the water out of curiosity. When he was walked far enough for the water to cover half of his calf he stopped and stood there. I wasn't the most patient person so after a while I grew weary and rolled my jeans up to follow him into the water. We stood and looked up at the moon for a moment before I noticed that his attention was turned in my direction. I looked at him and we stared at each other for I don't know how long. It seemed like he was memorizing my face, cataloging every detail, right down to each individual freckle. Eventually he reached over and touched my hair. I froze, slightly uncomfortable with the physical contact. He sighed in defeat and moved away from me.

"I'm sorry for being so temperamental, I'm a volatile person by nature, but that's no excuse to talk to you the way I do." His voice was coarse, but I could tell he was sincere and I was somewhat surprised. '

"Oh." I said. He could tell that I didn't know what to say so he allowed me a minute to process. "Thank you, I'm sorry I responded so violently."

He laughed a little and shrugged his shoulder. "It's fine, refreshing even. Most people, other than the ones I hang out with, usually cower when my temper rears its ugly head. I'm not suggesting you knee me again, but a slap every now and then can be useful I'm sure." He was smiling and it was magnificent. I had thought Jacob's smile was as good as it got, but Paul's smile was this attractive half smirk half grin that made my heart flutter. If Jake's smile was worth a million bucks, Paul's was priceless.

I nodded in response, not knowing what to do with the warm feeling that spread through me at the sight of his smile. He laughed like he could hear the sound of my heart pounding and this time his grin was a cocky and crooked smirk.

"By the way," He said. "Your hair is prettier when you leave it all curly. That's the way it's supposed to be." With that compliment Paul jogged out of the water and towards the woods.

"See you at school on Monday!" He called from the tree line before disappearing into the shadows of the forest.

I can honestly say that my first bonfire was a better experience than any of my other firsts.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: I don't own Forest Ridge School of the Sacred Heart and I don't own the mentioned characters of J.K.R's Harry Potter books. Threw that in there for kicks, but don't worry it's just a reference. This isn't a crossover. Again I want to urge you guys to review. Tell me what I'm doing right, tell me what I'm doing wrong, just tell me something XD Thanks for the follows and favorites. You're appreciated. -Bre**

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I was furious. No, it was more than fury. I was outraged and Qhala wasn't helping.

The more time I spent with Qhala the more upset I got with my mother. At first I only blamed Lissa for a portion of the bad things that happened to me, but every day my disdain for her grew into hatred. Qhala was loving and attentive which I found both sweet and annoying at times, but annoying in the way that teens were supposed to find parents when they hovered. Lissa was terrible and I never wanted to see her again.

The more I thought about Lissa the more temperamental I got. I often started screaming matches with Paul because he gave as good as he got and sometimes managed to give better. He'd always storm off shaking after our arguments and the fact that I could piss him off gave me some strange satisfaction. I was lashing out on strangers and picking fights with people that I knew would fight back. More often than not I would come back to Qhala's place with a scratch or scar that made her worry more than she needed to. I knew I was causing her stress so when she asked me to attend regular sessions with the school counselor I agreed to relieve her of her anxiety.

The first meeting was awkward at best. To start I didn't know there was going to be a meeting, but Qhala called up to the school and they agreed to the arrangement easily. Apparently the school knew what I had been through and was looking to help. I thought it was bull that they knew my business without asking my permission first, but I didn't say anything for Qhala's sake.

At the end of my third class a boy who looked like a senior came to the room before the bell rang and told my teacher that I was needed in the office. At first I thought I was in trouble for arguing with an idiot that almost ran me over earlier today, but I was reassured by the guy. When I got there I was directed to the counselor's office. She was pretty and looked way too young to work in a school, but she also seemed like the no nonsense type.

"Close the door please." She asked politely. I did what was requested of me before I plopped down in one of the chairs across from her desk. When I was comfortable enough to stop fidgeting she started speaking again. "Hello Madison. My name is Ms. Clearwater. I wanted-"

"Wait Clearwater like Seth Clearwater, the freshmen?" I interrupted.

She laughed. "Exactly like that, he's my younger brother. I don't want you to worry though. What happens between us when that door closes stays between us, even the walls are soundproof. I mean unless you're a threat to someone's or your own safety, then I'm required to report it to the principal. So let's hope that isn't the case. Let's talk about you. How have you been dealing with the move from Illinois?"

"Fine, the flight was fine. I was a little uncomfortable on the plane, but that's about it. Qhala's nice so there are no problems there." I tried to keep my answers generic so she would dismiss me as an untroubled child.

"So where is the problem?" She asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Well you said the problem wasn't Qhala. So I'm asking where the problem is."

"Oh. There isn't a problem. Everything is awesome here." I said.

"Look Madison, Qhala is like a second mom to me and we're very close so when she called in and asked me to council her granddaughter I couldn't deny her. I really want to help you work through these issues. Sometimes just talking about what happened can really help. It doesn't have to be with me or Qhala, it can be with a friend or you could call this hotline if you want to talk to a stranger." She ripped off a piece of paper from the pad on her desk and scribbled a number 1-800 number down before handing it to me.

"Thanks." I looked at the number and folded it up before putting it in my pocket.

"So we've got a half an hour. I hope you don't mind I pulled you out during your Calculus class. Your grades are best in math and science and after talking to your teachers Mr. D said you can spare thirty minutes of his class."

"Its fine that class bores me anyway," I reassured her. She nodded in response and then asked me about Chicago. I wasn't as comfortable talking to her about the situation as I was with the social worker. So I told her about my best friend Shay, who I had neglected for the three weeks that I've been in La Push. The more I talked about her and our less than stellar adventures I realized that I missed her annoying presence and promised myself that I'd call her when I got to Qhala's.

At the end of the session Ms. Clearwater (it felt strange to call her that) wrote me a pass to Calculus and told me we'd be meeting at the same time, on the same day once a week. I thanked her for her time and scribbled a note on my hand reminding me to call Shay.

When I got home Qhala wasn't there so I didn't bother taking the wireless phone up to my room. I dialed up Shay's familiar number and after a few rings she picked up.

"You've got Harry's Horny Hoes Hotline. You're lucky enough to be speaking with Luna LovesGood, how can I hex you today?" She asked in a terrible British accent.

"You can start by being less disturbing ya weirdo." I answered in a fit of giggles.

"Well this can't possibly be my ex best friend Madison Monroe Montgomery? She died in a plane crash three weeks ago. It's the only explanation for her not calling me in all that time. No it cannot be, _my _Madison would have called. Who is this impersonating poor, poor, late Madison?"

"I see you haven't gotten less dramatic in the time that we've been parted," I said with an eye roll that she couldn't see. "I am sorry I haven't called, though. I've been distracted with learning this new place."

"I'll forgive you if you give me the name, address and social security number of whatever lucky girl you've replaced me with."

"If that was your less-than-subtle way of asking me if I've made new friends then the answer is yes. Only two girls and they haven't replaced you, but this boy in my Government class is cutting it pretty close." I teased her.

"You are allowed to have boy best friends, because they can't replace girl best friends. Unless they're gay I guess and then it depends on the kind of gay. He isn't like Project Runway gay is he?"

"Umm… I don't know what Project Runway gay means, but no. I'm pretty sure he's straight. What's going on with you?" I changed the subject before it turned into an hour long lecture on what was deemed as an acceptable boy best friend.

"Nothing much," She answered. "I transferred schools. I'm actually at an all-girls boarding school. My dad got remarried to some stuck up floozy that he met at the business trip he went on before you left. She didn't like me and I didn't like her and there wasn't anything for me at that school besides you anyway so I didn't protest when she recommended I be sent away. I figured they'll be divorced in six months or maybe a year, so you know. I'm not sweating it. How's grandma?" She asked.

"Oh she's awesome. She bought me new clothes and shoes and school supplies. She cooks every night and she's so sweet about me staying here. I'm just waiting for it all to go to hell."

"Well enjoy it while it lasts. You've got four more years before you can technically be fully responsible for yourself. If you start getting into trouble or something you can always hide under my queen sized bed, I'm sure you can stow away for a while before you get discovered from your loud ass snoring."

"I don't snore." I said out of habit. According to Shay I snored like a bear during the hibernation season.

"Sure ya don't sweetie," I could practically hear her roll her eyes. "It's din-din time at Forest Ridge School of the Sacred Heart so I got to go. Is this Grammy's number?" I told her it was. "I'll call you soon since you obviously can't be trusted with the simple task of dialing ten numbers. Later loser, love you lots."

"Love you too crazy person." I hung up the phone and worked on my homework after grabbing a snack from the kitchen. It felt good to talk to Shay and it relieved me of some of the anger I had because she reminded me that it wasn't all bad in Chicago. She was a positive and I didn't have to give her up, but that didn't mean I wasn't still pissed when I went to bed that night.

* * *

I was woken up by the sound of a single wolf, but that didn't startle me. What startled me was when more howls joined in on the chorus and rang through the sleeping reservation of La Push. Playing it by ear I assumed that there were at least five of them out there. And they sounded so _close_. I swear I could feel the little house shake from the vibrations of the wails coming from the pack.

I felt a small pull leading me out of my room and towards the kitchen and out the back door. I was barefoot in thin, short shorts and a cami so it was needless to say that I should have felt cold, but oddly I didn't. My feet were leading me through the forest on their own accord and for a moment I forgot about the wolves. I was quickly reminded of their presence when I stumbled across an injured one in a clearing. My feet planted themselves to the ground for a moment before taking off and running towards the silver-grey wolf that wasn't too far from me. It was lying on its side looking all vulnerable and defeated.

When I was only a few foot steps away I realized that I was barefoot. In my pajamas. In the middle of the night. In the forest. With a large bear sized wolf that could easily devour me, even with its injury and it was looking straight at me. I'm sure it could smell my fear because it made a strange mewling sound too similar to a cat. It was probably from hunger, who knew how long it had been out here.

When I was done mentally mulling over the possible escape routes I realized that I was already on my knees in front of the wolf. What the fuck was up with my body and it doing shit without asking me or my brain first?

"Easy there… girl?" I asked hesitantly not at all expecting the quiet growl I got from the wolf. "Ok, boy then?" He whined in what I assumed was agreement.

"Ok boy, it looks like your leg is broken. My mom dated a vet once and he showed me something pretty cool about resetting bones after he broke one of mine." The wolf growled menacingly and I shivered with fright. In response to my shiver, or at least I think it was in response to me, the wolf settled down and seemed content with baring his fangs.

"I'm going to touch your leg ok?" I didn't wait for him to respond, because clearly that would be crazy, and ran two fingers along his leg, trying to feel how clean the break was. I was as gentle as possible and luckily wolf appreciated that. "It's a pretty clean break. What were you doing that broke it?" I asked.

I rubbed his stomach with the palm of my hand, scratching every now and then. His big tongue lolled out of his mouth and landed on the grass underneath him. His tail started to wag and without a warning I realigned the broken bone in his leg. He howled in surprise and looked at me in a way that almost seemed accusatory. "It's ok guy. At least you'll be able to walk better when this heals up than you would have if you had just left it to heal the way it was going to."

I swear he rolled his eyes.

"You're a pretty smart wolf, but a smart ass too." I said. I tore of the bottom half of my shirt so it was now a crop top. I took the strip of cloth and wrapped it around his leg to keep the bone in place while it healed. "I don't know if you're colorblind or not, or if wolves even care about the colors. Either way I'm sorry about it being pink and I hope the other boy wolves don't give you slack if you're one of the wolves in the pack."

The wolf let out a series of short barks that sounded something like a laugh.

"I'm not a huge fan of pink either, but Qhala loves it and bought these pajamas because she doesn't think I dress girly enough. Personally I think black is a timeless color, but ya know…"

I stayed and talked to wolf until I noticed the sun was starting to rise, which meant I had to get ready for school. I gave wolf a final once over and would have been sure that his bone was healed if that was possible. Before I left I scratched wolf behind his ear liked he liked and kissed his wet nose before running back in the direction of Qhala's house. After a while I managed to find my way back home and into my room before Qhala was up.

Wolf was… interesting and I wondered if I'd ever see him again.

**A/N: Was that a long chapter? I had those two scenes that I thought were to short for their own chapters so I just put them together. Remember to review. -Bre**


	8. Chapter 8

The longer I stayed with Qhala the more upset I got with Lissa.

I know I'm a broken record, but I had fallen into the habit of blaming her for nothing when I was in Chicago. In fact I viewed her as a child incapable of looking out for herself so it was difficult to see her portraying a paternal role. With that being said, it was a strange experience for me when I started to compare her to Qhala.

When Qhala cooked up a spectacular meal I couldn't help but think about how Lissa never cooked up anything for me but trouble. And when Qhala hauled herself up to my school to beg my principal not to suspend me, I couldn't help but remember the times when Lissa would curse my concerned teachers out until they stopped calling the phone all together. The more I thought about it the more upset I got with how things were going back in Chicago. I started to realize that I didn't have to endure anything and that Lissa, as a parent, had a duty to provide for me and protect me, or at the very least find someone who could. Needless to say my anger translated into my behaviour, which explains Qhala's frequent visits to my school.

Lately I've been getting into a little trouble with a few kids at my school. I'll be the first to admit that I start most of or more realistically, all of the fights that I've been apart of. But I'll also admit that none of it was my fault. I can't help it if people don't watch where they're going or can't shut up in the school library. Honestly I was just relieving my anger in the best way I knew, but when I explained that to the principal he just didn't get it.

As a last ditch effort, Qhala volunteered me to attend an anger management group for teens that Mrs. Clearwater conducted. The principal ate that shit up and signed me up for the group faster then I could say no thank you. The only reason I didn't flip out was the fact that Qhala looked at me with so much hope and compassion in her eyes that I couldn't possibly deny her. Besides the class was only one day out of the week. At the time I figured that the group wouldn't have much of an influence on any part of my life, but boy was I wrong.

On Tuesday nights I found myself sitting on the gym floor, making a circle with eight other kids and Mrs. Clearwater. At first I was worried that I wouldn't know anybody there, but surprisingly Tyler from my gym class was there. He acknowledged my presence when I introduced myself to the group, but other than that he ignored me for the rest of the session. His indifference towards me was both surprising and perplexing after he was so nice to me in gym the one time we got to work together. I spent most of the session wondering if he had forgotten who I was so quickly. I wasn't used to boys ignoring or forgetting me. Unfortunately I was interrupted from my stewing a few times by the counselor talking.

"Madison in this circle we are all equal and important. For that reason you can call me Leah here. All of the group members have introduced themselves to you already..." Leah droned on some more about the group dynamic, but I was to busy starring at her. She was pretty with traditional Native features. I'd kill for her copper complexion and slick, black hair. She seemed much to young to be a school counselor. Her toned body suggested that she was an Olympic athlete or a the very least a personnel trainer or fitness instructor. I'm sure the boys had trouble concentrating on whatever she said because I was having my own difficulties.

Before I knew it, it was nine o'clock and time to go. I wasn't looking forward to walking back in the dark alone with my new found discovery of the La Push wolves. I knew Wolf was chill, but the rest of them could be vicious. Before I could be to put out, Tyler surprised me by giving me what can only be decribed as a come hither smile from across the small parking lot. I shuffled over to him cautiously. By the time I got there his smile was more friendly and soft.

"Wanna hang out?" He asked. I stared at him through suspicious eyes. What kind of game was he playing?

"I don't know, are you going to ignore me most of the night?" I said with my left eyebrow arched and my hand on my hip. He laughed and wrapped his arm around my shoulder before he led me to the passenger side of his car. He opened the door and smiled at me until I got in the car. Then he jogged around to the other side. After putting on his seatbelt he pulled me closer to him in the car so he could place his arm around me. He started the car and waved at Mrs. Clearwater who was watching us from the gym entrance of the school. She frowned at us and waved back before going into the school. Tyler road out of the parking lot and onto the dark La Push streets.

"Where are we going?" I asked.

"I was thinking we could grab a drink and just hang out at the beach or something. It's kinda late for anything else on the Rez. I wouldn't want you to get in trouble with your grandma so we won't go far."

"I don't drink." I said.

"That's alright sweetie, I won't make you." He stopped the car at a poorly lit gas station in Forks. "You wanna come in?"

I shook my head. "Ok you want anything?"

"Just some bubble gum and water." I answered.

He nodded his head and jogged into the store. While he was in I played with the radio until I found a suitable station. As soon as I decided on something Tyler made his way back to the car. I watched him as he approached and admired his attractiveness. He had brown hair instead of the usual Quileute black. His eyes were dark, but playful and full of mischief unlike Paul who's were chocolate orbs filled with anger or mystery. Tyler's jaw wasn't as defined as Paul's, but it was still a nice jaw. He wasn't short, in fact I guessed him to be about 5'11. He wasn't as muscular as Paul, but there was definitely a hardness to his body that came from muscle. I'd give Tyler a seven out of ten in the looks department.

After my analysis of his physical appearance Tyler slid into the car and handed me the things I asked for. I thanked him and we drove to the beach. He parked his car in the deserted parking lot, but didn't turn it off. Instead he turned the music up and the headlights off. Then he climbed out of his window onto the roof of the car. I followed his lead, being careful not to dent anything, and say next to him. We looked up at the stars in silence while he drank his beer and I chewed my gum.

"Where you from Madison?"

"Chicago." I answered. He nodded and wrapped his arm around me again. He started singing along with the radio and it was terrible, but cute at the same time so I sung with him.

"How'd you get that beer? You aren't 21." I asked.

"Naw I'm 17, I've got a fake ID. And the guy that works there is so high most nights he doesn't know an Indian from a Native, so it's easy to buy there."

"Ha, that's kind of funny." I said with a chuckle. I blew a particularly large bubble with my gum. Tyler popped it and there was gum all over my face. I pouted and he laughed loudly.

"I'm sorry honey." He said in between gasps of laughter. "You're just so damn cute." He hopped off of the car.

"Come on sugar, I gotta get you home. It's pretty late." He announced as I yawned. I nodded and slid into the car after removing myself from the roof. He drove me to Qhala's and walked me to the door. I gave him a sleepy smile and patted his chest in an awkward parting gesture. He laughed quietly at me and leaned in to kiss my cheek.

"I've got me an interesting girl. Good night Madison."

"Night." I replied. Then I grabbed my key out my pocket and let myself in. I was so tired I choose to sleep in my underwear so I wouldn't have to put sleepwear on. Right before I drifted off to sleep I saw the image of an angry Paul.

* * *

I was having one of those weird dreams where you know it's a dream, but you're powerless to changing anything or waking up at will. The weirdest part to the dream was that fact that I didn't feel like myself. I would call it an out of body experience, but that wasn't quite right. The pull I felt last night was there, but so much stronger. It was tugging at me, trying to lead me towards something, but I easily ignored it and focused on what I was doing.

I was running, but it felt more like flying with how unbelievably fast I was going. At first everything around me was a motion filled blur, but after concentrating I could tell that I was in the forest whipping past trees. I could see everything, the ants on the forest floor, the 13 different shades of green in a single leaf, the small amount of light breaking through the treetops. I could see everything but what I wanted to see.

I felt a weird sense of desperation falling over me and for the first time I noticed that I wasn't just running. I was chasing something or being chased. I heard light and airy footsteps ahead of me and heavy, thunderous footfalls behind me. Surprisingly the sound of the heavy steps behind me comforted me while the light steps ahead sent a ripple of anger and frustration through me. I was furious and feed up. But with who or what, I had no idea.

A grey blur flew past me and I recognized it to be a wolf. Maybe I was being chased by the wolves? I quickly dismissed that thought when the grey wolf moved even faster. I don't know how, but from her body language I could tell that she was as desperate as I was to end this. But what was I ending? Looking down for a second I noticed my own grey fur, a darker color than my female counterpart. Wait, why did I have fur? When I looked back up I saw the back of a red headed woman standing barefoot in the middle of the woods. Was I going to hurt her?

At the sight of her I moved faster and fiercer. She was going to die and try as I might, I couldn't stop my feet or open my mouth to warn her. When my mouth did finally open it was in an attempt to snap my sharp and murderous teeth at her. Not teeth, canines. I was a wolf and I wanted her dead. Before I could lock my jaws into her skin she was gone. I could hear her, but not see her. The sounds of her familiar giggle sent me through a rage that I couldn't control. I let out a loud and furious growl. The bitch had gotten away again leaving only her sickly sweet scent behind.


End file.
